Melting Pot
by potNpaN
Summary: Jaune needs extra credit to pass his classes for the semester. All he needs is something not too hard, and will push him over to the next semester. That's all he needs. So helping out in the Beacon kitchens wouldn't be too hard... right?
1. Chop Chop

**A/N: And after several months, I finally find the time to start writing again. Hopefully, this'll be as fun of a story for you as it'll be for me :) Hope y'all will enjoy the first chapter of Melting Pot!**

* * *

Jaune's eyes were almost glued onto the paper that Doctor Oobleck had just handed back. The numbers marked in red almost seemed to taunt him, whispering to him.

So close... yet so far!

"How did you do, Jaune?" Pyrrha asked, too polite to look at his paper even when she was sitting right next to him. Her voice made Jaune flinch a little, before he tried to indiscreetly hide the sheet of paper.

"Oh, not too bad. I think I could've gotten a few more answers right, but—" Jaune cursed silently as the sheet feel from his hands, tumbling over itself before falling next to Pyrrha's feet. The girl, as helpful as she always was, leaned down to grab it, eyes widening as she inadvertently saw the marks on Jaune's paper.

"O-oh, well, I'm sure you'll definitely do better next time." She said reassuringly, her motherly aura exuding from her. Jaune plastered on a fake smile, laughing a little, head nodding in agreement as he hastily shoved the paper into his bag, sinking down into his seat.

It was another day in Beacon, and another day of suffering for Jaune. Who knew that faking his way into a prestigious school such as Beacon Academy would mean that he was grossly behind in studies that every other Huntsman and Huntress would know about? Even Ruby wasn't having as difficult a time as Jaune was. At least her dad and uncle were teachers, and she was only missing two years of schooling. On the flipside, Jaune was missing a whole lifetime of Huntsman academics!

As the bell rung, drowning out the machine-gun delivery that was Oobleck, Jaune sighed, standing up and pushing his chair out of the way, the other students around him doing the same. Slinging the bag over his shoulder, Jaune headed out, leaving Pyrrha behind him, her eyes trailing to follow him. Another girl was more obvious with her presence, springing onto his back with a cackle. Jaune stumbled for a second before his instincts, especially the ones dealing with Nora, kicked in, stabilizing the both of them.

"Ho, glorious leader!" Nora yelled, pointing to the sky. "Guess what time it is?" Jaune rolled his eyes, arms circling around her thighs, giving her a bit more purchase to prevent her from slipping off of his back.

"Lunch time?"

"Lunch time!" Nora squealed, kicking her legs wildly in excitement, making Jaune yelp in panic as the action was too wild for him to compensate for, causing him to slip and fall, letting go of the petite girl behind him. With her reactions, it was effortless to propel off of Jaune's back, landing on both feet. Jaune didn't have that luxury, his reactions only allowing him to land on his back.

Nora loomed over the dazed Jaune, eyebrow cocked as she looked at him with a questioning gaze. "Now what'd you do that for?" She asked, as if he had planned all along to slam his head against the ground.

"I guess I just wanted to lay down for a bit." Jaune gritted out, his aura swelling beneath him to heal the rising bump on the back of his head.

"Well, that's just silly, silly." Nora retorted, grabbing the blond by the shirt and lifting him up with entirely too much ease, propping him back onto his feet. "We have lunch to get to! Can't waste any time napping!" Jaune opened his mouth, ready to snipe at the girl in an effort to gain something out of this exchange, before pink eyes popped out beside her, Ren looking calmly at Jaune.

"Ready to go?" He asked. Jaune sighed, giving up and holding his tongue for now.

"Yeah, I'm starving anyways."

It wasn't much longer before Jaune found himself in the grand halls of the cafeteria, which was probably the biggest room in the Academy, which was saying something. Walls arched around him, the ceiling several dozen feet above him, the scent of food rolling over him in waves. Chatter also filled the air as team JNPR approached, the sounds of hundreds of teenagers filling the air, laughing and yelling at each other. The cafeteria was almost something of a meeting zone for everyone and anyone in Beacon, which meant that it needed to house the most bodies out of all the other locations. It also meant that the room was designed to be used as a way to pass on any messages that needed to get through the entire school, one of its walls dedicated to announcements and flyers, speakers mounted throughout the room as well.

Jaune couldn't help but smile a bit when he walked in.

Trays were placed in front of them as they got into line, menus laid out in front of them to browse through. It wasn't really necessary for the blond though, already knowing what he wanted to get. The cafeteria lady in front of him knew as well, nodding knowingly as she placed some chicken nuggets—shaped like dinosaurs of course, as there was no other way to each nuggets—on his plate, along with some other sides that weren't nearly as important as the nuggets. Jaune smiled his thank you before leaving the line, looking around for Team RWBY, who had already found a spot to sit at.

Settling down across from Ruby, Jaune smiled, greeting his sister team.

"What's up Ruby?" Jaune said, inspecting his nuggets, before tearing off the head of one.

"Nothing much!" The tiny girl chirped, crumbs spilling as her cookies escaped her mouth. She covered her lips with her hands in brief embarrassment as she swallowed, downing half her glass of milk. "I got a B- on Oobleck's test though!" She crowed, eyes lighting up in pride as she said so. Weiss shook her head at Ruby's boasting, fork pushing into some sort of meat, knife properly slicing into it as she took a small bite. Using a napkin to wipe the nonexistent crumbs or stains on her lips, Weiss set down her silverware.

"That is _not_ something to brag about Ruby." Weiss said, pointing a finger at the wilting leader of RWBY. "A B- just means that there is plenty of room for improvement, which is something that we will be going through tonight. No leader of mine is going to be settling for such a meager score."

Ruby groaned, slouching in her seat as she did so. Weiss looked as if she was going to continue her lecture, but was rudely interrupted by a strong arm around her shoulders, Yang butting into the conversation.

"Aw, come on Weiss Cream, don't be like that. You gotta look at it from the other side of things."

Weiss raised an eyebrow, shrugging off the blonde's offending arm as the white-haired girl crossed her own. "And what is that?"

Yang grinned, eyes shining. "She's doing pretty awesome for someone who skipped two years." Weiss was forced nod, admitting that Yang was telling the truth. Ruby beamed at Yang's defense, happy to have a bit of leeway. "At least give her another week before you start judging her so harshly."

Weiss nodded thoughtfully in tandem with Ruby's crestfallen figure, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "That is true enough I suppose." At that point, the rest of Jaune's team had joined them, the three of them sitting around Jaune, settling their trays on the table as Nora started to dig into her pancakes, the other two taking their time to at least exchange pleasantries with team RWBY before cutting into their meal.

"So how'd you guys do on Oobleck's test?" Yang asked, biting into her turkey leg, tearing a hunk out of it.

"I did pretty well," Ren answered, eating some greens that Jaune wasn't really able to identify, a small smile appearing on the pink-eyed boy's face. "I'm glad that I was able to study the correct course materials."

"Psh, with the help of yours truly, of course." Nora quipped, finally having shoved the however-so-many pancakes that she had brought with her down her throat. "I'm sure that if it wasn't for my help, Ren would be so out of luck." Nora giggled, shoulder bumping the boy. "Right Renny?"

The boy nodded, in a way that made it obvious that none of that was actually true, and that he was only agreeing to humor the ginger. "Right." Nora bounced in happiness at the affirmation.

"How did you guys do?" Pyrrha asked, laying down her fork next to what looked like a balanced meal.

"B-!" Ruby exclaimed, beaming once again.

"Satisfactory." Weiss answered, nodding primly.

"Eh, could've been worse." Yang answered.

Blake nodded, barely answering as she flipped to the next page of her book.

Conversation about Oobleck's class should've ended there, if it wasn't the Yang's observant nature, if only because she smelt an opportunity to tease someone at the table. Grinning predatorily at the other blond, she leaned closer to him, a saccharine smile on her face.

"How'd you do Vomit Boy?" She asked innocently, a sweat drop forming underneath Jaune's collar.

"F-fine, why'd you ask?" He said nervously, stomach dropping as he saw the mischievous gleam in the brawler's eyes.

"Well, I was just wondering is all Jauney. I mean, you didn't answer my question the first time I asked." Yang continued, shrugging as she smiled devilishly at him.

"Pyrrha didn't answer either." Jaune said defensively, eyes hitting his plate as he tried to find an out of this conversation.

"We all know Pyrrha did well." Yang said dismissively, not one to let go once she latched onto something. "On the other hand, _someone_ here seems a bit... nervous? Perhaps didn't do as well as some people expected him to?" Her voice lowered to a whisper, but was still somehow loud enough for everyone else to hear. "Embarrassed that Ruby's doing better than you?"

"That's not it!" Jaune denied, flushing as he found himself caught in Yang's web.

"Really?" Yang drawled, almost lounging as a victorious smirk appeared, knowing that she had caught him. "Is that true Pyrrha?" Jaune whipped head around to look at his partner, hoping that she would be able to see his pleading look. Unfortunately, she was already answering the question before he could react.

"He's... getting better." The red-head said, wincing as she saw Jaune's look, ducking her head down sheepishly. "Sorry." She squeaked out.

"Getting better?" Yang repeated, an eyebrow raising. "But not better already." Jaune wasn't really in the mood for anymore of the blonde's teasing, standing up abruptly, his tray in his hands.

"I don't think I'm hungry anymore. I'll see you guys later." The boy muttered, heading to one of the nearby trashcans, missing Pyrrha's outstretched hand, and Ruby's pursed lips.

Shoving the contents on his tray into the depths of the trashcan, Jaune shook his head in frustration, eyes closing briefly. Poorly worded as it was, Yang was right. He wasn't doing as well in his classes as he should be, and if he continued on this path, he would end up failing his classes. Maybe if he had another semester he would've been fine. No one denied that Jaune was a hard worker, studying tirelessly to try and keep himself on an even footing with the rest of the first-years. But even then, hard work and a grueling pace weren't entirely enough, not when there was so much information that he needed to digest at one time. He needed more time. Something that would let him last in the school for just a little longer, like a boost on his grades... like... extra... credit...

Jaune's eyes were glued onto those two words, printed in bold on the top of a loose flyer hanging from the announcements board. Tearing it from the push pin that it had been delicately attached to, Jaune's heart jumped as he found what was potentially a lifeline to his Huntsman career. Extra credit was a great idea, something that would get him over the line until the semester was over, where at that point, Jaune should be able to finally hold his own. A grin split his face as he read the flyer, the sheet gripped in both of his hands. This was the answer to his problems. From what he could glean, the school was short on staff on the food department, and needed a few extra hands to help prepare and set up all the food that was needed for the school. Nothing that Jaune wasn't willing to do, although to be honest, he would've been fine with cleaning the undersides of Bullheads if it meant that he was getting the extra credit that he needed.

Preparing food? Surely that wouldn't be too hard at all.


	2. Prep Work

**A/N: Just a tiny bit more set up before I get to the fun stuff, hopefully it's still enjoyable to read! Anyways, I hope y'all enjoy!**

* * *

Jaune tried his best to hold in the yawn that threatened to escape from his lungs, and failed miserably, covering his mouth in apology as the man in front of him stared at the rude interruption.

"Sorry." Jaune muttered, his face flushing a little as he shrunk in on himself, hoping that no one else would've noticed. No one did, over the cacophony of the kitchen.

And what a kitchen it was. When Jaune had stepped into the Beacon kitchens for the first time at four in the morning, all hints of exhaustion were wiped from his body, at least for a few seconds as his eyes roved around to look at what was possibly the largest kitchen he had ever seen. There were at least six people next to the grill, along with another three or four moving around, cutting, throwing, mixing several somethings around. At first all Jaune saw was chaos, but after another second or two of watching, he realized that none of them bumped into each other. Sure, some of them got close, ducking and weaving through each other, but nothing was dropped, the flow of the kitchen never stopping.

And for a second, Jaune felt smaller than he ever had before.

It didn't take much longer for his tiredness to catch up with him, eyes sliding lower, body posture falling a little. He hadn't had much sleep, staying up to almost midnight studying and training before having to get up at around three thirty to get ready to meet up for his first day—or night, Jaune thought to himself—of helping out in the kitchens.

A man had peeled away from the group and stood in front of him, holding out a hand and introducing himself as the main chef, by the name of Grey Basil.

"You have much experience with cuttin' and cookin'?" The man asked gruffly, folding his arms as he looked at Jaune, who seemed tiny in comparison to the chef, who loomed over the boy as he questioned him. Jaune had answered with a shake of the head, causing the man to sigh a little.

"Not much experience in the kitchen at all, from how you answer." Chef Basil said, rolling his eyes. "Well, first lesson, when I, or anyone else asks a question in this kitchen, we need an actual response. That's right, open the mouth, you need to prove that you've got a pair of lungs. You hear this kitchen?" Jaune listened as the man pointed behind him, taking in the noise. "What do you hear?"

"... Noise?" Jaune asked, wincing as the man sighed explosively.

"Kids these days," The man mumbled to himself, shaking his head. "Of course there's noise, boy. Try to be a little more specific than that." Jaune flushed again, listening again to racket.

"I hear people talking. Pans hitting the tables. Things opening and closing. I can hear the grills... grilling?"

The man in front of him nodded, glancing back at his kitchen. "Not perfect, but better I suppose. What I'm trying to say is that there's a lot of different noises, and a lot of different things happening at the same time. Someone asks you a question, they might not even be looking at you. But you still need to answer them." Jaune nodded mutely, looking at the man raise his eyebrow before realizing what he had done.

"Sorry. Yes."

"Yes sir is what I want to hear in this kitchen."

"Yes sir!"

And then Chef Basil sent Jaune through a crash course of what he needed to do while he was scheduled to be in the kitchen, which was apparently everything, or at least that's how it felt like as Jaune listened in, eyes getting wider and mind spinning as he tried to digest everything that the chef was throwing at him.

Dice, julienne, teaspoon, milligrams... there was so much more to cooking than Jaune had realized. Suddenly he felt so much more appreciation to his mother, who seemed to always cook a variety of foods for her eight children, and doing with the barely anyone to help.

It didn't help that Jaune was so sluggish, his mind trying to process everything with barely any rest, something that came under Chef Basil's attention.

"Here, drink some of this." Jaune blinked at the beverage that was held in front of him. Where the man pulled it out of, Jaune wasn't sure, but the boy accepted the drink gingerly, sniffing it before pulling it to his lips. Coffee, black. Not the way Jaune liked his coffee... not that he really liked coffee anyways, being more of an energy drink kind of guy.

"Do you have any sugar?" Jaune asked politely. The chef raised another eyebrow, blinking slowly at the boy.

"Sugar?" The man repeated, looking intensely at Jaune. The blond boy nodded awkwardly, before reminding himself to answer out loud. The man still stared at the boy.

"You're asking if I have sugar?" The man repeated once again, "Here, in a kitchen?"

"Yes, sir..." Jaune answered, trailing off as the question filtered through his sluggish brain. Oh.

And still the man didn't answer, just staring at the boy for another second before turning around, grabbing a kitchen knife.

"No." The man rolled his eyes, striding towards another kitchen space, letting the boy trail behind, miserable and embarrassed. That didn't mean that Jaune didn't finish the coffee. He needed all the energy that he could get.

And all of a sudden, a knife was held in front of him, the handle sticking out towards Jaune. Looking at it, blue eyes rose to look at grey, before Jaune grabbed it, clutching the blade in his fist. Black and gray strands of hair flew back and forth and the chef in front of Jaune shook his head, pointing at the knife that he had just given the boy.

"No no no. That is _not_ how you hold one a knife. At least, it certainly isn't how you hold it in this kitchen." The man led Jaune to a cutting board, showing him the proper technique.

"Holding it like this will prevent you from getting cut. I know that you've got Aura," the man said, holding up his hand to silence Jaune before he could speak. "But it never hurts to practice how to do things safely. Besides," the man grinned, "you have no idea how jarring it is to be knocked out of the rhythm of your cutting by sliding off your thumb, or knuckles." The man waited for Jaune to conform to the standard before nodding, arms finally falling away from his chest as he motioned for Jaune to stay there, disappearing into the crowd of cooks, reappearing with a small scroll.

"Take these." The man dropped the scroll into Jaune's hands. "Study them when you get the chance." Jaune looked down at the screen, trying to read it.

"What is it?"

"Recipes that you'll need to memorize eventually. Just prep recipes," The man added when Jaune's eyes widened in panic as he looked at how many recipes were listed on the front. "There's a lot, but if you have any trouble, ask any of the cooks, and bring the papers with you for the first few weeks. I know it looks like a lot, but you'll get comfortable with all of them pretty quickly." The man looked at Jaune inquisitively. "Understood?"

Knowing what the man wanted, Jaune nodded. "Yes, sir!"

And with that, the man sent Jaune back to his room, fingers moving as they swiped through the scroll, looking at all of the information.

 _This... is going to be harder than I thought._

Jaune wasn't one to back down so quickly though, and to be frank, he really needed the extra credit. It wasn't as much as it looked, Jaune thought, trying to reassure himself. Professor Goodwitch had said that they really only needed an extra person for every other night, something about one of their cooks disappearing before the semester had started.

Opening the door to his room, he was found himself face to face with Pyrrha, whose eyes widened as she saw him, stepping back.

"Jaune! I was wondering where you had went. I mean, Nora woke us all up in a panic, saying that you had disappeared." The redhead coughed into her fist, stepping aside to let Jaune in. The boy laughed nervously, looking at his three teammates.

"Sorry Nora, I just woke up a little early and decided to take a walk to wake myself up a little." Jaune let out a huge yawn, covering it up with a hand. "I guess it didn't really work very well." Jaune added hurriedly, slipping in and grabbing a change of clothes, heading towards the bathroom. "I'm going in first all right?" There was a collective hum as Jaune shut the door, locking it behind him.

Nora blinked owlishly, head tilted. "I've never seen Jaune wake up before me before. In fact, isn't he usually the last one awake?"

Pyrrha nodded silently, eyes stuck to the bathroom door in concern. "I wonder if Jaune's alright." She muttered worriedly. Nora scoffed, waving her arms.

"I'm sure he's fine. I mean, if he was in trouble he'd tell his teammates, am I right Renny?"

The boy looked at his partner, legs crossed as he sat on top of his bed, a small book in hand. Then, without answering, he looked at Pyrrha, raising an eyebrow.

That didn't do much to allay her fear.

So she used that to excuse her behavior as she stood patiently outside the bathroom, listening to the shower as she did _not_ think about the boy inside, or she did, but only in a concerned-as-a-friend way.

The door slid open to reveal a clothed Jaune, who jumped when he found himself—for the second time today—face to face with his redheaded partner.

"Sorry!" Pyrrha said, flushing as she realized how creepy she had been, waiting for the boy to come out of his shower. Suddenly, all the concern was overshadowed by her embarrassment, and with that, the words that she had found a few minutes earlier abandoned her, leaving Pyrrha a stammering mess.

"I-I'm just going to go take a shower now." She finally said, defeated as she went to gather her clothes, brushing past a confused Jaune. As the doors slid shut and locked themselves, the boy looked at his other two teammates.

"Did I do something wrong?"

The question was met with two shrugs, one not caring to answer, and the other not wanting to.

A half hour later, Team JNPR made their way towards the cafeteria, ready for the most important meal of the day. Meal options popped up in front of them as they walked past with trays, picking out something that could help propel their day of learning, something filling and well rounded.

Like a donut and some chocolate milk, for example.

Sitting down next to Team RWBY, chatter filled the air as Jaune half listened to whatever topic they had going on today, which had something to do with Yang, Nora, and golf balls.

Yeah, Jaune was going to pass on that one.

Conversation happily carried on without Jaune, letting him think and try not to fall asleep by himself, before Pyrrha noticed how quiet he was.

"Are you alright there, Jaune?"

There was no answer.

"Jaune?"

Nothing.

"Jaune!"

The boy's head snapped up, eyes fluttering open. "Yes, sir!"

Both teams stopped talking, all of them looking at the mortified boy, whose shoulders fell as he tried to make himself as small as possible. Coughing into his fist, Jaune muttered an apology, smiling widely as he looked at his partner.

"Did you say something, Pyrrha?" The champion didn't say anything at first, before gathering up some courage.

"Is something wrong, Jaune? You look really tired there. Did something happen this morning?"

Jaune was quick to shake his head, laughing as he waved his hands in an attempt to reassure the girl.

"No, there's nothing like that. I guess I just didn't get much sleep in yesterday." His partner deflated a little.

"Oh, I'm sorry if I'm working you too hard. Maybe if you want we can cut down on some of the training sessions. You've been getting better so maybe you don't need as many—"

"That's not what it is, Pyr." Jaune said, laying a hand on her arm, causing her to close her mouth. "It's nothing like that. I'm just tired, and this is the first time it's happened. I'll just drink some coffee and get some more sleep tonight, alright?"

"Okay." The girl squeaked, face bright red. Jaune's eyebrows scrunched as the tables suddenly turned, Jaune concerned about his partner.

"Are _you_ alright there, Pyr? You're looking a little red there." For some reason that got Yang and Nora laughing, while Ren just shook his head, a small smile on his face.

"Everything's alright, thank you for asking." Pyrrha answered, a little more formal than she normally did. Ah well, Jaune thought to himself. There wasn't anything wrong with being a little formal. Unless you were Ruby. 'Cause that just means she really doesn't like talking to you. With a shrug Jaune lifted his tray and stood up, making a few excuses as he made his way towards the nearest trash can.

There was still about a half hour left before the first class of the day, and Jaune sure wasn't going to use it to take a nap, even if he really wanted to.

He had some studying to do.

* * *

"Are you sure he's alright?"

Surprisingly, it wasn't Pyrrha who asked the question.

Nora watched the red-headed girl, eyes regarding her calmly as the girl bit her lip, turning to look at Nora.

"I don't know. What do you think?" Pyrrha asked. Nora pursed her lips, thinking seriously about the question, before shaking her head.

"No. I don't think so." The words sounded grim, something of a change from how Nora usually spoke. It was enough to make everyone else at the table quiet down, watching the girl have one of her few fits of sanity.

"Why do you think so?" Ren asked, voice hushed as he asked, watching Nora steadily. The girl crossed her arms, darkness falling over her as she leaned back a little.

"Jaune never drinks coffee."


	3. Saucy Morning

**A/N: Another day, another thank the gods that the day's over. Anyways, I'm glad some of y'all have been enjoying this. Hopefully as the chapters move on, there'll be more Jaune finding himself doing things he usually doesn't do. Well, ramble time's over, I should probably head to bed at this point. Enjoy!**

* * *

Jaune cursed angrily at himself, pulling away the sharp knife a second too late as it slid across his knuckle. Reflexively Jaune pulled his hand up to check if he had cut himself. Of course, his aura protected was already healing him, but that wasn't like he was consciously using his aura for prep work. Although with the amount of cuts that he had already gone through, it was starting to look like a good idea to start. Setting down the knife, the boy sighed, deciding to take a small break as he looked across the kitchen, watching all of the chefs cook.

Several days had passed since Jaune's first introduction into the kitchens, and he slowly grew to learn more and more about his new work environment. One of the biggest things that completely boggled his mind was the food itself. Almost every single component was fresh.

It. Was. Ridiculous.

It must've been a logistical nightmare, but when Jaune brought it up, Grey puffed his chest up proudly, saying something about how only the best and freshest should reach the protectors of humanity. It was an impressive half an hour speech that didn't really stick with Jaune, although the effects of it were definitely felt by him.

Namely, by the immense amounts of produce he had to peel, chop, boil, and crush on a daily basis. It wasn't a surprise after Jaune had found all of that out to see that he had only been introduced to one kitchen out of _four_. Jaune thought that he would've been impressed about that, when all it really did was make Jaune thank the stars that at least his precious nuggets came out of a bag, and wasn't something he needed to prepare.

This wasn't even the main staff, which was something that Jaune could barely wrap his mind around. This early, every person that he saw was practically part of the prep staff, a lot of the food that the students eat actually made to order, if anything was actually ordered by the students. There was a _whole other_ staff that busied itself when the day came. Jaune shook his head again as he went back to cutting up the mass of potatoes in front of him, humming to himself as he did so.

It didn't take much longer for him to finish the assigned prep work that was needed for him, checking off with the chef, who let him go. Washing his hands for one more time, Jaune wiped his fingers across his pants and left the kitchen, turning and walking through to the cafeteria, pushing open the doors.

There weren't many people awake at six o'clock in the morning, but Jaune could count a handful milling about, some sipping on their coffees and others blinking themselves awake. He could even see some of the staff in here, which was a rare sight for the blond boy. It made sense though, Jaune thought to himself. Teachers needed to get ready for the students, so they needed to be up, and have eaten before the rest of them did.

Jaune walked up to the line, deciding to switch things up and ask for some scrambled eggs, as well as some toast, sliding his way across as he grabbed a ceramic mug, pouring some coffee into it and blinking at the immense options that lay next to the coffee. Half and half, French vanilla, hazelnut and more types of creamers, along with more sugar types than he could count on one hand. Tentatively, he tried a few squirts of regular creamer, as well some sugar, sipping it and immediately putting the glass down, his tongue curling as he tried not to gag. Okay, not the right combination for coffee. He would've tried something else, but there was no way to pour out the nasty drink he had made, and there was already someone waiting impatiently behind him. Like the man that he was, Jaune swallowed his embarrassment and disgust, taking his breakfast and beverage with him as he sat down, fork in hand and ready to dig in.

Taking the first bite of his food, Jaune found himself enlightened to a surprising fact.

He was _really_ enjoying the food that was laid out in front of him. The eggs were soft and fluffy, toast just the appropriate amount of crunch without breaking apart... They were delicious together, and the bit of salt and pepper were all that was necessary for him to practically moan as he took his first bite. Before he knew it, the plate was virtually cleaned, the only evidence that there had been food on it was a bit of melted butter that had been unfortunate enough to slide off of his toast. Jaune let out a quiet sigh, happy with the choice before he glanced at his... coffee. With another sigh, the boy took another sip, hoping that his taste buds would be okay with it this time around, only to find himself gagging once more, shaking his head and standing up to dump the coffee into a nearby drain, sliding his plate in the appropriate pile of dirty dishes.

Mentally deciding to treat himself, Jaune went back in line, ordering some more food for himself. He was a growing boy after all, and needed as much nutrients as he could handle. It was only healthy after all, and it would be an injustice for him to be underfed.

And so, with a plate ladled with bacon, sausages, and even a slice of warm ham, Jaune arrived back at the table that was set up for coffee, pouring himself another cup. This time, he tried the hazelnut creamer, along with a sugar labeled in pink, taking another tentative sip.

Again, no go as Jaune winced, putting the coffee down and sighing to himself. At least it wasn't as bad as the first one, he thought as he sat down again, picking up a slice of bacon.

"Mmmm."

Jaune didn't even try to hide the appreciate noise that came out of him when he started to eat, closing his eyes and enjoying the myriad tastes that assaulted him. With the same fork that had begun his journey, Jaune dug in, savoring every bite of food as he did so. Just like before, Jaune cleaned his plate, the food disappearing so fast that he wasn't really sure if he had actually stood up and gotten another plate or not. Leaning back a little, Jaune pat his belly, the body part making a noise of happiness as he did so.

And just like the first time, Jaune stared at the steaming cup of coffee, unsure of whether or not he should try another sip or not. Before he could really weigh out his options fully, the boy picked up the cup, taking another sip of regret, before putting it down and sighing.

"I should really just stick with black coffee." Jaune mumbled to himself.

"I didn't even realize that you drank coffee, Jaune."

The boy turned to find the leader of his sister team standing in front of him, a bright smile on her face.

"Heya Ruby." Jaune greeted, nodding at the girl as she slid next to him, a chocolate muffin and a glass of milk on her tray. The girl greeted him back before biting into her muffin enthusiastically, following it up with a sip of milk.

"What're you doing up so early Jaune?"

Jaune peered at the girl, seeing now underlying comment in the question, and answered back, sure that the girl was just being friendly.

"Just getting some early training in." He answered, his finger sliding across his plate as he debated on whether or not he should get another. "I mean, training with Pyrrha is awesome, but sometimes you just gotta do some things yourself, you know?" The brunette nodded, putting down her half eaten muffin.

"I know! Just the other day Yang was telling me that I needed to practice my hand-to-hand combat, and that since she was the 'best'," Ruby used air quotes to make sure Jaune understood that she certainly didn't think much of Yang's boast, "that I should be practicing with her! Blegh, no thank you." Ruby waved her hand dismissively before grabbing her muffin again. "I mean, first she's always like, 'you gotta do things yourself Ruby, you need to make more friends Ruby, stop trying to run away from me punching you in the face Ruby', and then she's all like, 'I need you to stay super close to me Ruby, don't go out of my sight Ruby, try not to let me punch you in the face Ruby'." The young girl sighed, slouching a little. "It's exhausting."

Jaune chuckled, nodding empathetically. "Yeah, I know what you mean. Pyrrha's kind of like that too. I always feel like she wants me to be a better Huntsman, but then she also feels like she needs to watch my every move to make sure that I don't trip and impale myself on Crocea Mors."

"Exactly!" Ruby exclaimed, throwing up her hands. "They definitely need to stop babying us. In fact, the next time Yang does something like that, I'm going to let her know what's on my mind." Ruby nodded decisively, a picture of a true leader.

"Oh really? Well, you might as well get it out of the way now then." An amused voice said behind the two of them, making them both jump.

"Y-Yang!" Ruby said nervously, eyes wide as she turned to face her big sister, who had a single eyebrow raised at the petite girl. "W-when did you get here?"

The blonde girl dropped her tray next to Ruby's, tapping her chin as she pretended to think about the question. Her other arm snaked out, grabbing Ruby who had rose up in an attempt to run away. With her little sister safe in a headlock, Yang answered conversationally.

"Not too long ago. Just enough to hear you try to imitate me. Badly." Yang grinned, shaking her head. "I definitely do _not_ sound like that."

"You do too!" Ruby protested, trying to break out of the headlock. "Jaune, help me!"

"Uh..." Jaune glanced at Yang, who looked innocently at him, the smile on her face way too sweet to be real. A brief internal battle raged on in Jaune for a second, before he realized that there was only one option for him if he wanted to walk out of this one whole. Jaune liked to think of himself as a good tactician after all.

"I-I'm gonna go put my plates away." Jaune stuttered, standing up and heading towards the nearest trashcan, ignoring the cries of betrayal from Ruby. It was safer that way.

He loitered around for another few seconds before heading back, making sure to avoid the pouty Ruby's gaze, as well as Yang's victorious smile.

"So Vomit Boy, what're you doing up so early?" Yang asked idly, finally digging into her breakfast, popping one of her egg yolks with the tip of her fork.

"I'm not up early." Jaune answered. Yang glanced at him doubtfully, before turning to look at a nearby clock on the cafeteria's walls. "I'm always up this early," Jaune shrugged, resting his cheek on one of his hands. "I just decided to get an early breakfast."

Yang sighed in exasperation, throwing her hands up in the air. "Fine then. Why the early breakfast?"

"Maybe I just wanted to surprise you guys." Jaune said, giving Ruby a small smile and a wink, distracting Yang for a second as she turned to watch her sister hide a giggle behind her hands.

"Jaune?"

The boy jumped a little at the mention of his name, turning to find his partner, standing behind him with a small frown on her face, otherwise looking as immaculate as she always was.

"Oh, morning Pyrrha." Jaune relaxed a little, a small smile on his face as he pat the seat next to him. The girl sat down, greeting the other two girls politely, before casting a concerned look to Jaune, who tilted his head in confusion.

"Something wrong Pyr?" Jaune reached up to touch his face, checking to make sure there was nothing still stuck to it. The girl shook her head quickly, flushing strangely at the question.

"Nothing! Nothing." She repeated, fidgeting nervously. "I was just wondering when you got here is all. You woke up much earlier than you usually have this morning." She explained.

"I didn't realize you noticed that when I woke up every day." Jaune said, blinking rapidly at her. The girl's eyes widened, caught.

"I-I mean, well, that's just something that I notice about everyone on our team," Pyrrha said quickly, her bangs hiding her expression as she tilted her head downwards, eyes averted from her partner. "That's all." She squeaked out, before going silent.

"Oh." Jaune chuckled a little, gesturing vaguely in the air as he spoke. "Well, you know, I've been talking with Ren whose been giving me a few hints on how to... how to move like a ninja, you know?" The boy shrugged, a smile rising onto his face. "Maybe I'm getting better than I thought."

"But Ren's not a ninja." Pyrrha said, looking up uncertainly.

"I-I know." Jaune said, the smile shrinking a little. "It was a joke..." Jaune trailed off as Pyrrha's mouth opened, the blush returning to her face as her mind put everything together.

"Oh. Oh!" The redhead forced out a small laughter. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize that—"

"It's alright Pyr." Her partner shook his head, reaching over to pat her on the shoulders. "Not everyone can appreciate my humor so early in the morning." The champion laughed again, cutting it a second too short and letting the awkward silence take over once again.

"This is better than watching bootleg movies on our scroll." Yang whispered loudly enough for everyone to hear, getting another confused look from Jaune, as well as a shove from Ruby, telling her sister to shut up. Jaune opened his mouth to ask her what that was all about before being interrupted by Pyrrha, who stood up hastily, making an excuse to go get some breakfast. Yang let out a hearty laugh at that, shaking her head before finishing up the rest of her breakfast, standing up and going to put away her tray.

Blue eyes met silver.

"What was _that_ all about?" Jaune asked, having no clue what just went by in the last two minutes he was sitting there. Furrowing his brow, he looked at his partner, who looked like she was holding herself a little lower than usual. "Maybe she's worried about something?" Jaune asked Ruby tentatively, probably reaching a little, but hey, it was a good idea to cover all of his bases.

The brunette just covered her face with one hand, mumbling something about how oblivious some people were.


End file.
